The Changing of the Guard
by Ness Frost
Summary: Though his head won't stop telling him he should distrust this man on sight, Chief Sokka's past experience is telling him otherwise.


Chief Sokka drummed his fingers over his knee as he looked at the man before him.

"So," he started, going over the story one more time just to make sure he had his facts straight. In a situation with this many unknowns, it was important to get as many facts as one could gather. "You came here from the Northern Tribe."

"Yes." The man's head jerked to the side at the reminder, and he turned his eyes from Sokka's face to look at the floor instead.

The circumstances under which he'd come to them were troubling; Sokka couldn't deny that. Still, he'd been honest, both about his banishment and about the circumstances behind it, which as far as Sokka was concerned was a point in his favor—as was the fact that he'd made the long, hard journey from North to South with little more than a single-person sailboat and the clothes on his back.

"And you're a waterbender."

Something flashed in his eyes as he turned back to Sokka. "That's right."

There also wasn't denying a lot of hard facts. Like the fact that most of the Northerners had gone home after the rebuilding was completed, and most of those who had stayed had been too old to leave behind any progeny. That they still had to do most of their hunting and fishing the old-fashioned way, because there simply weren't enough waterbenders to make for an even division of labor. That his sister was getting far too old to be called out at all hours of the day and night to repair their crumbling infrastructure, and his niece was constantly running off to who-knew-where and could not be relied on to be present when the Tribe most needed help.

"I'll tell you what," he said at last, rolling the words around on his tongue to see how they tasted—bitter, as it turned out, but with an undertone of sweetness, like arctic berries. "I've always been a logical type of guy. As far as I'm concerned, whatever you did to make the spirits angry, that's between you and the spirits—unless it starts hurting the people around you.

"You need a home," Sokka continued, "and this tribe could use some more good waterbenders. So here's how we'll do this. From now on, you can consider yourself on probation. If you can manage to live here a year without causing trouble, I'll make you a full member of the Tribe." He allowed a moment for the offer to sink in before pushing himself to his feet. "But if anyone in my tribe ends up in danger because of you, I'll make you _wish_ I'd banished you as well. Does that sound fair?"

The man gritted his teeth. He was having a battle between his needs and his pride, Sokka could tell. Sokka only waited.

Finally, however, need won out, and he nodded. Sokka motioned for him to rise.

"There's a patch of land on the edge of the village that no one is using. It's not much, but it ought to be big enough to build a house. I'll also ask young Senna to show you around—you can stay with her family until you get settled."

They did not stand on formality here: Sokka had already covered everything that needed to be taken care of, and motioned for the other to follow him to the door. At the entrance to the Chief's hall, however, Sokka paused, took a deep breath, and let it out again.

"Listen—Tonraq, was it?"

"Yes." The young man was actually looking at him this time, and Sokka turned to meet his eyes, looking him square in the face.

"Two of the best men I know have been banished at some point in their lives—one of them by me, from this very Tribe." He smiled a bit at the old memory, shaking his head before he grew serious again. "If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's that you never know what a man can achieve if you give him a second chance."

He pushed his way out of the tent before Tonraq could answer, and whatever reply the younger man might have given was swallowed up by the whirling snow.

* * *

 **A/N:** Just a short that got stuck in my head. I have more substantial stuff coming up once I've recovered from my jetlag.


End file.
